1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the game of golf and, more particularly, to configurations and methods to distinguish between golf clubs in a set of golf clubs.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mastering the game of golf is an endless pursuit for millions of people around the world. To master the game, one must not only conquer the physical aspects of the game but must also conquer the mental aspect of the game. One important step in mastering the mental aspect of the game is to identify the appropriate shot to play from a particular distance given the ball's particular lie with, of course, consideration given to the layout of the golf course. A wide variety of golf shots are available. The golfer may choose from a full swing, a flop shot, a lob shot, a chip shot, a sand shot, a pitch shot, a punch shot or other shot that may be available in that golfer's arsenal. Each shot confers various advantages given the lie of the ball and will also determine the speed and trajectory of the ball as it leaves the face of the club head. Thus, the shot chosen will depend on many factors, including: the distance to the pin; the existence of any obstructions such as tree limbs; the environmental conditions, most notably wind velocity; and the lie of the ball, most notably whether the ball is in the sand or on the rough, fairway, fringe or green and whether the ball is on a flat or an angled surface. However, the calculus does not end with the selection of the shot to be used, the golfer must also identify the appropriate club that he or she has available to execute the chosen shot. If the golfer chooses his or her club properly and executes the shot correctly, the ball will take the desired course which typically avoids obstacles and sends the ball in the general direction of the pin.
Unfortunately, proper club identification does not always result in proper club selection. Golfers carry a wide variety of clubs in their bags. If the golfer plays by the rules, the golfer will have no more than 14 clubs in his bag. Ideally, the particular clubs carried by any given golfer are selected to best suit the attributes of that particular golfer's game. The clubs selected by most golfers include a driver, one or more fairway woods, nine or more irons and a putter. From these clubs, the golfer identifies what that golfer feels is his or her strongest club for a particular shot. The bags holding the clubs are generally designed to be relatively compact so that they may be carried by the golfer and are typically configured to receive the handle and shaft of a club leaving the head exposed for club identification. Due to the generally compact design of golf bags and the relatively large number of clubs to be carried, the club heads are generally crowded together and tend to overlap one another. This crowding and overlapping can make the selection of a particular club difficult and frustrating. During the course of a round, a scratch golfer will identify and select an average of seventy two clubs. This results in seventy two opportunities to identify or select the wrong club from one's bag. Although a misidentification of a club for a particular golf shot should be correctable through practice and lessons, the erroneous selection of a club when the proper club had been identified only frustrates the golfer, increasing his or her score and typically facilitating the breakdown of his or her mental game. Thus, the golfer's enjoyment of the game is reduced. Therefore, a need exists for a set of clubs that enables a golfer to more easily and consistently select an identified club.
The similarity in appearance between the various clubs makes the club selection even more difficult. There are only subtle structural differences among the various woods (including the driver) and among the various irons. The differences include slight differences in the size and shape of the club heads as well as differences in the lengths of each club's shaft. However, as noted above, the golf bag receives the shaft (and grip) of each golf club. Thus, only the head of each golf club is typically extending from a golf bag when a club is selected for a shot. This orientation of the clubs in the bag eliminates the shaft length as a distinguishing factor for the golfer and leaves only the subtle differences in the club heads to facilitate identification. Further, the club heads extend from the golf bag at various angles further distorting their appearance and obscuring the various visual clues that aid a golfer in selecting between clubs. Further with a primary difference between the shapes of clubs being their loft, the various angles at which the club heads sit within the bag make proper identification based on the loft of a club almost impossible. Therefore, a need exists for a set of clubs that can be distinguished from one another based on more than just club head size and shape.
Various apparatus and methods have evolved to allow golfers to properly identify the desired club. However, these systems typically require a golfer to identify a number stamped or molded on the sole of the club or to identify a number on a club head cover. In addition, other more technically complicated systems allow the push button identification and mechanical extension of the identified club head above the other clubs in a users bag to aid in selection. However, these apparatus and methods have particular drawbacks.
Generally, golf clubs are identified by numbers or letters stamped or molded into the sole plate of the club head. The numbers and letters are generally recessed into the sole to prevent them from wearing off over time. The numbers' placement typically allows the club to be identified when the club is inverted, such as the club would be when the club was placed in a golf bag. However, due to the nature of various numerals in addition to the “P” and “S” frequently used on pitching wedges and sand wedges, respectively, there can be some confusion as to the club identified by the number or letter. Particularly, the 6 and 9 irons, and the pitching wedge are easily confused. Similarly, the 2 and 5 irons, and the sand wedge are also easily confused. In addition, the 3 and 8 irons can easily be confused by a golfer. Furthermore, as the clubs typically rest in a golf bag, the club heads frequently overlap. This overlap tends to obscure the numbering and lettering on the soles of the club heads. Thus, a golfer attempting to select an identified club must fumble through the club heads to find and select the identified club. Aside from the frustration of having to search for the club, the golfers fumbling about brings the club heads into contact with one another resulting in excess wear to the club heads from the repeated searches. Therefore, a need exists for a set of clubs and method for club differentiation that does not solely rely on numbering or lettering for proper club selection.
In addition to the confusion between numbers and letters on the sole of the golf clubs, the numbers and letters can affect the swing of a club. As noted above, the numbers or letters are typically stamped or molded into the sole of the club head. That is, the numbers and letters are recessed into the sole of the club head. When the club is swung and the sole contacts the ground, there are necessarily variations in the resistance to the movement of the club along the ground in the golfer's swing plane. These differences in resistance can cause variations in the same swing with the different numbering and lettering on the clubs, thereby reducing a golfers consistency. Thus, a need exists for a method of club identification that does not necessarily require the stamping or molding of numbers and/or letters into the sole of a club head to eliminate the variation in resistance between clubs as their soles contact the ground.
Further, the nature of golf is that it is typically played outside on natural turf and other natural groundcovers that tend to bring the sole of the club head into contact with dirt and other debris. Ideally, the dirt is cleaned from the club head after every shot. However, typically dirt is compacted into the recessed numbering and/or lettering on the soles of the club heads. This obscures the numbering and/or lettering making it more difficult to properly distinguish the clubs from one another and thus, more difficult to select the proper club. Therefore, a need exists for a set of clubs and method for club differentiation that is not compromised when the sole of the club is dirty.
Another apparatus and method for identifying the proper golf club are designations on club head covers. Frequently, club head covers are provided to protect the finish and allow for identification and selection of clubs. However, head covers can be cumbersome. They are frequently difficult to remove from the club head and to replace over the club head frustrating the golfer and increasing the amount of time required to finish the round. In addition, the club head covers can be placed on the wrong club causing the player to select the improper club. Further, club head covers may be left on an earlier hole and are frequently lost during the course of a round as the player forgets to replace the head cover after a shot, again frustrating the golfer. Therefore, a need exists for a set of clubs and method for club differentiation that does not add to the equipment that must be carried around the course and that can not be separated from the club head so that it may be forgotten at a hole or lost.
Yet another apparatus and method for selecting the proper club are electronic club dispensers. These club dispensers are typically integral with the golf bag and in some cases provide a touch pad to extend a club for selection. That is, once a club is identified on the touch pad, the club is mechanically raised above the other clubs to allow for simplified selection. Although this system simplifies the selection of the clubs, it typically requires that a club be replaced at a particular location within the bag. This placement requires a degree of concentration that a golfer would likely not want to dedicate to placing a golf club within a golf bag and misplacement of a club results in the wrong club being presented for subsequent selection. In addition, such golf bags are complicated and expensive to manufacture. Their complicated nature invites component failure decreasing golfer satisfaction with both the equipment and game. In addition, golf bags with electronic club dispensers tend to be heavier than standard bags. This extra-weight is extremely undesirable especially to golfers who carry their clubs or use a pull cart to transport their clubs around the course. Therefore, a need exists for a set of clubs and method for club differentiation that is not complicated or expensive to manufacture and that does not add to the weight of the equipment that a golfer must transport around the course.